Remains of rare dinosaur species discovered in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO: Remains of a toothless, two-legged dinosaur species that lived some 70 million years ago has been discovered in Brazil, researchers said on Thursday, calling it a “very rare” find.

The small dinosaur, which measured about a meter (three feet) long and 80 centimeters tall, is a theropod, a group whose members were almost all believed to be carnivores. But puzzlingly, the new species — dubbed Berthasaura leopoldinae — has a beak-like mouth with no teeth.

“That was a real surprise,” the paleontologists who made the find said in a statement released by Brazil’s National Museum. They published their findings in the journal Nature, calling the discovery “one of the most complete dinosaurs found from the Cretaceous period in Brazil.” “The toothless part raises doubts about what kind of diet this animal had,” said researcher Geovane Alves Souza, one of the study’s authors.